Date: January 27, 2026 To: Representative Don Mayhew and the Members of the House Corrections and Public Institutions Committee  From: Christine Woody, Food Security Policy Manager, Empower Missouri RE: Support for HB 2751 My name is Christine Woody and I am the Food Security Policy Manager at Empower Missouri. Empower Missouri is a statewide non-profit organization...Lee mas

Haircuts. Car repairs. Bus fares. Netflix and audiobooks. These could all get more expensive if plans to impose new taxes on services and phase out the income tax go into effect.  And who would take the biggest hit? Working class Missourians, who already pay a higher share of their incomes in state and local taxes...Lee mas

Below is a quick summary of key issues for Empower Missouri in the upcoming legislative session. If you would like to learn more, please register for our Legislative Preview webinar on December 16th from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.  We’re just four weeks away from the start of the 2026 Missouri legislative session. Prefiling began...Lee mas

Daphne is a 58 year old resident of St. Louis, Missouri. Over the course of fifteen years, she has watched her health, the cost of living, and her neighborhood shift around her. Most notably, the Covid-19 Pandemic of 2020 caused a dramatic shift in her life. She has witnessed how difficult it can be to...Lee mas

On Friday afternoon, after 4PM, ahead of the long holiday weekend, Governor Mike Kehoe announced that he was calling a special session to “enact legislation establishing updated congressional districts for the State of Missouri and amending the state’s initiative petition process.” This is a political move called “taking out the trash,” which refers to the...Lee mas

The 2025 Missouri legislative session ended last week with some controversy and tension as the Senate invoked Previous Question, or “PQ”, to cut off debate. The Senate employed this “nuclear option” to force a vote on two bills that were in direct contradiction to laws passed by the majority of Missouri voters in the November...Lee mas

The latest issue to face intense debate in the Missouri Senate is paid sick leave. HB 567, which would remove paid sick leave for workers, passed the Missouri House in March.  Since then it has progressed through the Senate and is now eligible for discussion on the Senate floor. On Wednesday night, multiple Democratic Senators...Lee mas

Date: April 23, 2025To: Senator Jill Carter and Members of the Senate Families Seniors and Health CommitteeFrom: Christine Woody, Food Security Policy Manager, Empower MissouriRe: Our opposition to SB 662 My name is Christine Woody. I am the Food Security Policy Manager for a statewide non-profit organization called Empower Missouri. We lead a statewide coalition...Lee mas

This week, Governor Kehoe signed SB 4, an omnibus utility bill that changes financing for utility companies. The bill adds more ways for utility companies to shift costs to consumers and increase utility bills. Empower Missouri denounces this change for these reasons: Consumers Council of Missouri estimates that SB 4 will raise utility bills by...Lee mas